The distortion of truth (and how this leads to games of lower quality)

Gary Grigsby's strategic level wargame covering the entire War in the Pacific from 1941 to 1945 or beyond.

Moderators: Joel Billings, wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami

Post Reply
User avatar
Tristanjohn
Posts: 3027
Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 4:50 am
Location: Daly City CA USA
Contact:

The distortion of truth (and how this leads to games of lower quality)

Post by Tristanjohn »

TIMJOT wrote:Good, the whole premise of the test was back *** backward from the get go. Now why don't you take up Mogami's offer and play the IJN side. Then no one can accuse you of incompetant game play. Its the only way anyone is going to believe each side is playing optimally and is a far better way to prove your point.

Frankly your reasons for refuseing Mogami's offer strikes me rather duplicitious. You state concerns that Mogami will utilize game play tricks on the allied side to somehow negate the supposed IJN bias. Yet you feel your own game play should somehow be beyond reproach. I am sorry but haveing your transport TF escorted by nothing more than a handful of MSW and SCs is a little more than suspicious. Maybe you can enlighten me on this particular strategy.
The reason I chose to play the Allied side was spelt out beforehand, more than once. My reasoning fit nicely into the stated purpose of the test: to see if the model were capable of rendering historic results from historic play.

I knew perfectly well Mogami would not play historically but rather try to use every trick in the book to maximize benefit from the many holes in the game system.

To wit, his claim that I was trying to "throw the game" by not including warships in my transport TF.

This has already been argued and resolved in this forum, and not so long ago. It was agreed that this sort of "gamey" approach was nothing more than a workaround to a inadequately-designed game mechanic for TFs with regard to combat.

Historic usage of Allied naval assets for Watchtower would not include any such gamey approach. That the reality of the game system happens to be such that similar workarounds have become popular in certain player quarters is not an issue I'm here to argue. This popularity for gamey play does, however, always surely point to various problems with any given model, these being serious problems of inherent nature with re to UV.

So, in the belief that repetition sometimes works, let's take that from the top again:



[indent]1) The stated purpose of the Scenario #14 test was to determine through the course of historic play (i.e., to move the pieces around the same way commanders did in real life) if the model could or could not render reasonably historic results.
2) I chose to play the Allied side because I knew I was the only player who would ensure such historic usage was realized by the Allies at least, knew perfectly that Mogami would not so comply.


[/indent]Now I have to wonder why it is necessary to have to come back and labor once again over this seemingly simple point, and to the tune of fielding such an idiotic and rude post as I've fielded from you into the bargain.


The answer?

Equally simple, I'm afraid.

You're in denial, you're not given to reading for content but rather are given to reading instead what you care to believe has been written--big difference there, of course--and your capacity for retaining whatever you might have read for content, that is to say accuracy, is not apparently all that large.

I also believe you've yet to buy into the ideal of "fairness" and never wanted to determine whether or not the UV model is "accurate" or no; but you rather did wish to engage in some sort of pointless TJ bash and root good ol' Mogami on as he resorted to one outlandishly gamey move after the next to "win" the game (game mind you, for the case is for Mogami this never was a "test" but only a chance to "put TJ in his place" and Mogami imagined this would be a snap through the simple means of "squashing you like a bug") and keep his crown as the best UV player ever to stroll down the pike.

Finally, you're one of those people who likes to rub elbows and no doubt in the back of your mind harbors the fervent hope and giddy belief that one day Kid will choose you to be on the WitP playtest team. And then you'll have "made it." :)

That in a nutshell is where you've always come from, that's where you're coming from today, and as these sentiments are shared by more than one in this forum that must be then more or less why this game system is fouled and not likely to get much better soon.

After two years of brilliant, concise, patient argument by Mdiehl this forum is still not convinced the "Zero" was not an inherently better aircraft than anything the Allies had in 1942, and for all I know these same people would argue just as strongly that the "Zero" beat the pants off the Hellcat as well, only problem there being that by that time of the war all those "brilliant Japanese pilots" had been (somehow) killed by those inferior Allied pilots flying their inferior Allied planes.

Or something like that.

However this group's convoluted argument actually runs inside its dark head the primary point to note is that no amount of good sense or reason suffices to sway this forum as a collective body from the misdirection it wants to pursue. Unfortunately, this forum's business is primarily about the clubby atmosphere, the use of shouts, intimidation and ridicule in lieu of reasoned argument, the penchant to write whatever happens to please the writer with no special regard paid to "truth" or useful meaning.

If you want to know, this forum is not wholly dissimilar to a school playground populated with children out of the fourth grade on recess.

So, please continue apace, TIMJOT, and be part of the general problem in this forum, continue to be part and parcel of a wargame project which gives every indication at this juncture of ultimately arriving in similar shape and with similar problems as did UV.

As always, I wish you well.
Regarding Frank Jack Fletcher: They should have named an oiler after him instead. -- Irrelevant
User avatar
Mr.Frag
Posts: 11195
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 5:00 pm
Location: Purgatory

You are Insane!

Post by Mr.Frag »

OMG!!!

You are insane! You freely admit to throwing a game for the purposes of proving you can't read a manual and somehow want to fault the game designer for your actions ???

You are twisting the facts, not the game. Quit it.

The USN broke their TF's down in specific formats for the purposes of command and control.

UV does not support this subdivision of Task Forces within a hex. It is a board game, not Harpoon II with vector based real time mathematics tracking each individual shell separately.

If you choose to ignore the manual and break your Task Forces up into a format the game does not support and try and use this as the whole basis for your claim to the game being flawed, you are completely off your rocker!

This is no longer about historical discussions, this is become your personal vendetta against a guy named Gary Grigsby.
mdiehl
Posts: 3969
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2000 8:00 am

Post by mdiehl »

In effect the only way to ensure protection for a suite of merchant ships and transports in a landing area is to assign the protection to the same TF? So in UV the "historical" invasion of Guadalcanal would be represented by all the APs in the same TF with Chicago, Canberra, Astoria and so forth?

Just trying to bone up on background tactics here.
Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

Gamey???

Post by mogami »

Hi, I did everything the Japanese did. Sent the same TF on the same date (even tried to have the same leader.) I did nothing gamey. And yet TJ defended his transports with much less then the USN used historicaly and now says it was me behaving A-historicly? ha ha ha.

You goof ball, I wanted to be the Allies and squash you like a bug not the Japanese and squash you like a bug. Your the one that claims the Japanese advantage not me. I know I'm not as smart as you (I don't really know this but you keep saying it) But to prove the point I had to use the Japanese exactly as they were used historicly and I don't know and "tricks" I have seen from more then one replay you've sent me and from playing these few turns that you are clueless on how to play. (Yes play it is still a game no matter what you try to make it into)
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
User avatar
Mr.Frag
Posts: 11195
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 5:00 pm
Location: Purgatory

Post by Mr.Frag »

Mdiehl,

TJ is playing a really silly game of stripping his escorts away from his transports just to make his results look bad. You will see this clearly in Mogami's posting of AAR's.

He is relying on a "react to enemy" feature that is subject to sighting and weather effects to protect his troop ships, in effect saying he couldn't care less if they all get sunk.

He is getting burned because of this yet wants to play this off as the games fault. It has nothing to do with the game. It has to do specifically with him attempting to play like a two year old, trying to force that square peg through the round hole on his little "fisher price" toy.

We'll leave your question for another post, as it is deserving of a answer, just not in context of this thread which will probably end up deleted by the moderator as people pile onto it ...
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

UV

Post by mogami »

Hi, In UV terms all ships assigned to protect transports at Lunga belong in the same TF or the transport TF. Just because they were actually TF . somthing of Task Group XX does not mean they need to be in their own TF.

To protect the transports at Lunga it would have been very easy to have a BB
4-5 CA/CL and 10 DD sitting in the hex. That would have stopped the Japanese attack. (They only have 5 CA 2 CL and 8 DD total on map )
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

What TJ wants

Post by mogami »

Hi, OK I've been reading his posts (and the subject of many) since he first began his assault on UV/WITP back in July.

TJ wants to convince the matrix crowd (The users of UV and future buyers of WITP) That GG could have made a better game (PacWar) back in 1991 except for Joel Billings and Axis fan boys changing that program into a simpler game loaded with Japanese advantages. All GG games are Axis fanboy platforms and reflect nothing of reality. (No matter how they resolve in the end)

If all Matrix forum users will join in his crusade Gary will be forced to scrap the present WITP and start from scratch and do it TJ's way.

Do away with all the alleged pro Japanese features. Make a more complex and hence 'realistic' model for air/land/naval combat. You simply can not reproduce air to air combat using only exp, morale, fatigue, leader ratings and aircraft ratings.

The proof is that a Betty and P-47 have the same durability rating.
Japanese Betty and Nell bombers are able to sink USN ships
A6M2 pilots (well all IJN pilots) are grossely over rated while USN/USA pilots are under rated.

UV is just too poor a game to use as a foundation for WITP and should it's self be scrapped and done over.

He uses any post of a problem by another user as a source (even when the problems are solved)

As a result anyone who likes UV, was a tester for UV, is a tester for WITP, disagrees with any of his assements of the situation is regarded as having lower IQ, no education,or no grasp of history, or simply a fanboy.

When invited to test his claims he avoids doing an honest test. When other people post results that are opposed to his he states they have a lower IQ, lack of education, no grasp of history and are fanboys.

All a new browser would need to do to see this in action is open "A short list of pro USN bias' and go to TJ's first appearance and see he did not wait for anyone to disagree before he made his first attack on the UV testers. And long before I actually realized what was going on he made his first snide remarks about my motives and IQ. (I was the well meaning village idiot and Matrix/2by3 monkey) This continued and expanded when TJ opened a new thread 'USN bias (cont)"
He has had the amazing ability to do something no one has ever done before. He has pushed Chiteng and Mdiehl into the mainstream camp. For the first time in over 3 years everyone has adopted the same view. No one has changed their view of history or what is important/right/wrong in the UV/WITP game models but all have agreed the TJ has some other agenda. And is not honest and forthright in disclosing what just exactly he is up to. I don't think we fall for his "I'm trying to save wargaming"

This latest 'Test' is not proof he actually tried to throw the test. I've seen his PBEM games and he really does not know what he is doing. He is very afraid to let someone run the allies against him. If this ever happens and he loses a battle as Japan his whole lie crumbles. Now we don't need to ever play TJ in any test. Anyone who tries the Japanese in scenario 14 against a human of moderate skill will see the Japanese have no chance. That the USN pilots could arrive on map with 100 percent damaged aircraft. 0 morale, 99 fatigue and still the allied player would capture Lunga by 8 Aug.
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
User avatar
2ndACR
Posts: 5524
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 7:32 am
Location: Irving,Tx

Post by 2ndACR »

TJ go read your history books and give it up. The game you want will not be built, and would not be any fun anyway, ie no one would buy it. You argue with people who know the games inside and out. You do not like to be proven wrong by game play. Learn the GAME, because that it what it is, a game or simulation if you please. Any game or simulation will never measure up to history, because as a human being with hindsight into history, why would you make the same mistakes as were made. If that is what you want then just read history books.
I may be new posting here, but I have been lurking for quite awhile. GG makes the best strategic games around and has for as long as I have played. His game, his design, his time, he can do whatever he wants. I and alot of other people will buy and play his games. That is your choice. Go read a book.
User avatar
Nikademus
Posts: 22517
Joined: Sat May 27, 2000 8:00 am
Location: Alien spacecraft

Post by Nikademus »

To clarify game mechanics we should break it down into two parts:

1) Sea component.

Warships do not need to be in the same TF as the transports to protect them from surface attack. (though it doesn't hurt i.e. "extra" insurance)

example: You have two TF's at Lunga, one is an invasion TF (transports) and the other is a surface combat TF (warships) If the enemy attempts to insert a surface combat TF (or bombardment) into Lunga's hex they will 99% of the time first have to get 'past' the surface combat TF before getting at the transports.

Variables at play here would be, if the defender TF takes a whuppin, the invader TF might get a crack at the transports (aka, Mikawa's "decision" at Savo)

If the attacker sends multiple surface combat TF's into Lunga's hex and outnumbers your defender surface combat TF's (not feasible with SC#14 due to lack of assets) then one or more of those TF's might get "around" the defender TF or TF's and get a shot at the invasion TF. (I did this once to an opponent....litterally saturated his defensive TF's with strong medium sized SC TF's....a couple got through to attack the transports. more did not and it was very bloody....but i got some through and they shot up those juicy targets (though didn't cause nearly enough LCU casualties IMO)

Obviously the only way to totally prevent this is to make warships an integral part of the invasion TF....the game equivilent to "close escort"

2) Air component.

This is broken down further into two sub-components

a) Air cover

All TF's in a single hex will benefit either from direct CAP (CVE or CV type TF in the same hex as other non air combat TF's, how much aircover i'm not sure......as Frag has mentioned, we do not have access to the formulas for obvious reasons) or indirect air cover (LRCAP). one difference with LRCAP though is that you can assign LRCAP to a specific TF though whether this will garner better preformance vs another TF thats in the same hex i dont know.....i havn't used LRCAP enough to tell and prefer to not risk it anyway by already having supressed any nearby enemy airfields BEFORE sending in the transports.

b) Flak

Flak protection is TF specific, so in order to beef up an invasion TF's flak you do have to directly assign warships to that TF. (so yes, Chicaco and company would need to not be in a seperate TF)

Mog and Herr Frag can clarify or correct any boos boos i may have made with the above.

note to public:

please dont misinterpret this post as a response to Harvey's thread. I do not want to be a party to fueling an entity's desire for attention. Just clarifying how UV/WitP works for those who might not be familiar with it.

thank you and have a nice day :)

-Nikydemus
(Clown prince of beta testers)
:p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p
mdiehl
Posts: 3969
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2000 8:00 am

Post by mdiehl »

He has pushed Chiteng and Mdiehl into the mainstream camp.
Isn't the Big Bang or something comparable supposed to follow close upon the heels of this conchordance?

Thanks for the reply, Mogami, in re Lunga TF escort. Doing my best to figure out the basics so that I'll be ready to game up when the thing arrives.

Thanks Nikademus for the tips.
Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

Big Bang

Post by mogami »

Hi, You don't know the sleepless nights I passed and at the same time the Cubs and Redsox threatened to play one another in the World Series. We owe a vast debt to the Marlins and Yankees for making sure the Cubs/Redsox do not win the WS. Now we need to get Chiteng and Yourself into a massive brawl with the rest of the forum and the universe will be back to normal. Can't you post that you think the B-17 is too weak in UV? :(
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
User avatar
Nikademus
Posts: 22517
Joined: Sat May 27, 2000 8:00 am
Location: Alien spacecraft

Post by Nikademus »

what's a B-17?

:p
IronDuke_slith
Posts: 1385
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2002 4:00 pm
Location: Manchester, UK

Post by IronDuke_slith »

mdiehl wrote:Isn't the Big Bang or something comparable supposed to follow close upon the heels of this conchordance?

Thanks for the reply, Mogami, in re Lunga TF escort. Doing my best to figure out the basics so that I'll be ready to game up when the thing arrives.

Thanks Nikademus for the tips.

Nah, no big bang, Friend. Everybody sells out when they get older. Look at Zeppelin, not a hotel room smashed in over two decades. Ozzie has got his own TV show. Madonna got married. It's evolution. This concordance does mean you have to get your hair cut, but that aside it's pretty painless.

It does have it's downside, though. You've misspelt "Conchordance" ;) The old Mdiehl would never have done that. It's a good sign.

If you need a game of WITP when it comes out, give me a shout. It'd be a novel experience having my carriers sunk by someone who could tell me which town in the United States the wings of the Dauntless that did it were made in. What's more, now you've joined the mainstream, we wouldn't have to fall out arguing about it.
IronDuke_slith
Posts: 1385
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2002 4:00 pm
Location: Manchester, UK

Post by IronDuke_slith »

Nikademus wrote:what's a B-17?

:p

Weren't they a band?

That said, their sub-woofer has always been modelled in UV with far more range and power than it warranted in real life. I'm sick of mentioning it, I don't think Gary cares.
mdiehl
Posts: 3969
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2000 8:00 am

Post by mdiehl »

Think I'm out of fight. Must be my age. I'm all exhausted from swearing myself blue in the face as I watched the Red Sox manager send Pedro Martinez to the mound to start the bottom of the eighth. There's some cosmic rule that no Red Sox manager will play to win if the Sox have a lead in any of the last three innings and the game is an important game.

I'll be back in curmudgeon mode some day. In the meantime I'd rather just hang out for a while. Play a few wargames. Enjoy the autumn weather. Do some writing. Etc. etc.

Rubbing my hands in anticipation of my Tarawa defense, continuing tomorrow.
Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

Pedro

Post by mogami »

Hi, Pedro said to blame him and not the manager.
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
mdiehl
Posts: 3969
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2000 8:00 am

Post by mdiehl »

Pedro was mistaken. The manager should never have given Pedro a choice in the matter. Every dedicated Red Sox fan over the age of 25 knew how the game was going to end the moment we saw Pedro heading out to the mound. It was 1986 Redux.

Now that we have all this tech I have a recommendation for Red Sox management. Equip the team with a portable red strobe light that is activated by a particular cell-phone signal. That cell phone signal is in turn activated when enough Red Sox fans call a particular telephone number -- 1-800-Red-Sox-Choke or something. The strobe light goes on and alerts the dugout that it is time to get turn their thoughts away from what they're gonna say in the post-game victory interviews and concentrate on winning the d@mn thing.
Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?
babyseal7
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2000 8:00 am

Post by babyseal7 »

"He has had the amazing ability to do something no one has ever done before. He has pushed Chiteng and Mdiehl into the mainstream camp."

Isn't that simply an amazing accomplishment? If nothing else, TJ's made us all aware that our differences of opinion are really relatively small in the greater scheme of things...because we can always look at TJ and nod our heads in unison while going "Gawd, what a cretin!".
User avatar
Mr.Frag
Posts: 11195
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 5:00 pm
Location: Purgatory

Post by Mr.Frag »

This latest 'Test' is not proof he actually tried to throw the test. I've seen his PBEM games and he really does not know what he is doing.
Mogami, I find it almost impossible to believe that he is simply playing this poorly. I guess we'll just have to take your word for it, but with his posts, it becomes very tough to swallow that he simply is not deliberately doing this.
User avatar
mogami
Posts: 11053
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2000 8:00 am
Location: You can't get here from there

UV and History

Post by mogami »

Hi, Scenario 14 Begins with the USN in 3 CV TF, a replenishment TF, A surface TF, 2 Transport TF and 2 Bombardment TF's.

Anyone who knows anything about Operation Watchtower knows there is no need for any bombardment TF. (And not one composed of 1 CLAA, an 2 DD)
If you check the AAR you will see bombardment's taking place. (In fact he attacked with CV groups and B-17's as well)

So I don't think he was doing anything except what he thought was duplicating the actual events. This does show he does not understand what "Operational Level" means.

Now as the Japanese I did exactly what they did in response to the landings.
I loaded a FT TF with troops and sent everything else to the allied landing areas. I placed my bombers on Naval Attack and the fighters to escort.
I don't know any 'trick' that can defeat the USN landings. The only chance the Japanese have is the allied player being "too smart"
I beleive in keeping things simple. So I would have loaded 1 Rgt into 3x1.5 AP and sent them to Tulagi with 4 CA and 10 DD to cover the landing.
2 more rgts would load for Lunga. with the BB and 4 CA and 10 DD to cover.
Each transport TF would have a CA and 2 DD
this leaves the 3 CV 3CA 2 CLAA 1 CL 6 DD once they cover the landing they can retire with just the CLAA and 3 DD splitting the 3 CA 1 CL and 3 DD into a new TF. The Tulagi force should be unloaded and gone before any surface battle.
The USN is then left with a greatly superior force in the Lunga Area.
The IJN CV arrive on the 10th. Figure they can not make an apperance before the 14th or 15th. There will be nothing at Lunga for them to attack.
The USN CV airgroups will be rested and escorts for them. The USN player has no reason not to accept (Accept hell I think they should seek it out) battle.

If there is anything gamey or unhistoric in any of this (other then the USN CV not running away)
Image




I'm not retreating, I'm attacking in a different direction!
Post Reply

Return to “War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945”